MOSCOW, Nov 29 (Reuters) - The Kremlin's anti-terrorism envoy said on Wednesday the killing of a Jordanian-born insurgent was not a watershed in Moscow's fight against rebels in Chechnya but nonetheless sent an important signal to others. Russian special forces killed Abu Havs -- described by the Kremlin as an al Qaeda member -- during a shootout on Sunday in Chechnya's neighbouring province of Dagestan. Four other gunmen also died in the siege. "We should not pay too much attention to his death," President Vladimir Putin's envoy Anatoly Safonov told Reuters at an anti-terrorism conference in Moscow. "It's more important as a signal to others who choose terrorism." Abu Havs's death was still important though, because it highlighted three other trends, Safonov said. "The local people and society don't support terrorism, the security services are getting better all the time and international cooperation is improving," he said. Russia has fought separatist uprisings in mainly Muslim Chechnya since 1994. Violence has also spilled over into neighbouring Dagestan and Ingushetia. The Kremlin has said al Qaeda is funding and providing practical support to the Chechen separatists. Safonov said Abu Havs was an al Qaeda agent and had been on the United States's list of terrorists. But in an interview dated Nov. 12 posted on the pro-separatist Web site www.kavkazcenter.com, Abu Havs, often written Abu Hafs, sidestepped a question about his links with al Qaeda. "Would it be fair to those who protect honour, religion and the oppressed Muslim brothers to name members of al Qaeda?" he said. The Web site said he was born in Jordan in 1973 and arrived in Chechnya in 1995 to fight the Russians.
